Relaxing Weekend and Healthy Food

It's been a beautiful September weekend. To be honest it's been a long time since we've had a late September weekend that was as lovely as this one. With the exception of herbs, our garden is done producing. As a matter of fact I harvested and set to dry the last of the basil, rosemary, oregano and mint. Lot's of little bundles hanging in the kitchen today – I love that I have not purchased any of those spices for the last 5 years.

After sending the hubby off to his work tech summit; 4 days of bonding, spending time with the engineers, learning about new products and team building, I went for a run, grabbed a few groceries, picked up the house and sat out on the deck to start the book club book – did I mention it was a beautiful afternoon – ahhhh.

Then of course dinner comes along and while I'm not a fan of cooking for one – I decided to bake one of the acorn squash from our garden and added a tablespoon of agave and some salt and pepper – tasty.  I served it with a small spinach salad with black beans, tomato, carrot (from garden), radish, pepper and mushroom. Camille wasn't a great dinner conversationalist but hey she does what she can.

I've been hearing and reading a lot lately about over night soaked oats (as opposed to cooking them) as a breakfast alternative so I'm planning to give it a try tonight. Start with ½ to 2/3 cups of rolled oats, ½ tsp chia seeds and 1 cup almond milk. Mix the oats and chia seed together in a container and pour the milk over the oats, stir and put in the refrigerator over night – that's it!

In the morning you can add nuts, dried fruit, coconut flakes, cinnamon and maple, agave or honey to sweeten it a bit. I'm planning to add, apricots and raisins, cinnamon, a little flaxseed and some agave – can't wait to give it a try.

I've been interested in raw food for a while, you might recall that Dan and I took an uncooking class together in the Spring – we still haven't made the savory casserole at home – but it's definitely on the agenda.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's good to be home – home style cooking

We've just returned from a week long vacation in Coeur D'Alene Idaho. Neither of us had ever been there and I've always heard how beautiful it is – it's true it is beautiful. If you recall from my last post, Dan was in a bicycle accident four days before we were to leave. I was concerned about going but the doctor assured me that he would most likely be fine – and he was.

We spent time hiking, sightseeing, trying restaurants and new foods and some general relaxing, reading and moving marathons – it was good and we had fun which was exactly what the doctor ordered!

I learned a couple things on vacation. First, I'm a city girl; we rented a carriage house, which was beautiful but remote – about 15 to 20 minutes out of the city on a winding road. I loved the space, waking up in the morning and looking out the window to see 2 – 3 deer looking back at me. To see the mountain with the tall pines neatly lined, the lake clear and calm. It was all so beautiful but I would have liked to be a bit closer to civilization (and yes I know 20 minutes is not as remote as it could be ….).

The second thing I learned is traveling as a vegetarian is hard at dinnertime. We had a full kitchen so we did our own breakfasts and a number of lunches, which really helped, but dinners were at times problematic. Many restaurants believe that removing meat and adding a slice of cheese solves the "vegetarian" problem – poof we are now vegetarian friendly – and in many cases this works; just not for me – I don't do cheese that comes from a cow; a sheep or goat is fine it's those pesky cows that get me every time.

We had a couple of outstanding meals.  One at a recommend Italian restaurant called Tony's on the Lake, I had a delicious polenta, fennel, roasted tomato, mushroom, onion and vegan cheese baked dish. It was one of my favorite dinners while on vacation. We also ate at a Greek restaurant where we started with a eggplant appetizer and then Dan had a vegetarian platter and I had a falafel sandwich – both were very tasty especially the spanakopita which Dan had – I'd say it was the best I've ever eaten.

Other dinners included veggie sandwiches (without out the cheese thanks), tofu stir-fry, and a nice vegan tomato soup with a salad. Our last dinner included techno wine tasting no sommelier required. It was an interesting place; they had 28 wines - 20 reds and 8 whites all connected to technology that would precisely pour 1, 3 or 5 ounce tastes. You purchased a card up front for a certain amount and then you put the card in the slot, selected the size pour you wanted and pressed the button, instant wine, perfectly poured. It was a fun way to try small amounts of a number of wines – which ranged from 2 to 9 dollars per 1-ounce pour.

I love to travel but I hate the traveling process – I wish Scotty and Spock could get the transporter fixed so we could use it in our time – would make things much simpler. But we are back and to celebrate I made my favorite vegan black bean soup for dinner tonight.

It's a pretty simple recipe; 1 large onion diced, 3 cans black beans, 1 can fire roasted tomatoes, vegetarian broth, 4 cloves of garlic, red pepper flakes and cumin – stuff I normally have in my kitchen.

Start by chopping the onion and cooking it in a pan with the garlic until translucent. Take one can of the beans (do not drain) put in a blender and add the onion/garlic mixture – blend until smooth. Return the pureed bean mixture to the stockpot, add 15 ounces of vegetarian broth and the can of fire roasted tomatoes.

Take the second can of black beans (again do not drain) add ½ tsp. of red pepper flakes, 1 tsp. cumin and combine in the blender – puree until smooth and add to the stock pot. Take the final can of beans (yep you got it don't drain them) and add them to the stockpot, simmer for 25 – 30 minutes. Serve with chopped avocado and sour cream (if you eat that of course) and a slice of coarse-grained bread – you'll be glad you did.

For those of you who are bean purists and feel the need to make your beans from scratch – I say you're a better man than I have at it. 

It feels good to be home.

Summer Swan Song and a Prelude to Fall

Fall is definitely in the air. I just came in from walking and I noticed that the leaves are beginning to fill the driveway and the smell in the air has a certain crispness. The nights are cooler (which is awesome for sleeping with the windows open) and the days still have a warm feel – it's my favorite time of year.

Tuesday night we had a bit of excitement; Dan had a biking accident and we ended up in the ER. I'm grateful that he was wearing his helmet and that he was not seriously injured. He does however have a concussion and a nice collection of scrapes and cuts. He'll be sore for a few days however, the fog seems to have lifted and he's getting back to normal – even though he is moving a bit slowly.

We're still in high tomato production mode – which is heavenly although we're struggling to keep up. I'm having dinner with some friends tonight and of course I'll have to bring them each a few tomatoes – it's down right rude to show up without a gift right. And everyone loves a home-made gift – or home grown gift in this case.

As you know we've been toasting bread and consuming tomato and mayo sandwiches quite frequently this season and believe me I have no complaints. But everyone once in a while you need something a little different.

I was scrounging through the fridge and in the back I spied a forgotten cucumber an avocado, some feta and of course the large bag of cherry tomatoes. I decided to throw them together in a quick salad with a rice wine vinegar and olive oil dressing. Add baked squash with apples, onions, walnuts, cranberries and maple syrup (yes the acorn squash is from the garden) and you have dinner. Both were delicious and Dan added a side of grilled salmon to his plate. 

We've been slowly using our acorn squash. We've dropped a few off with neighbors, friends and family and Dan has calculated that if we have squash once a week we have enough to last us until early January. I've been searching for vegan mac and cheese recipes and the ones that seem the most interesting are the squash based sauces so I think we'll give that a try at our next movie night.

I'm looking forward to cooler days and Dan's famous white bean soup  We're definitely transitioning to fall and our Annual Pumpkin Carving Party – complete with costumes – let the Halloween preparations begin!